A plan for up to 160 homes at Kendal Parks will go before councillors on Thursday 17 September, with planning officers recommending approval despite two refusals recommended by Kendal Town Council and 78 objections from neighbours.
The outline application covers grazing land and part of the Kendal Golf Driving Range east of Hayclose Road. The 7.7-hectare site is next to Oxenholme station and about 2km from Kendal town centre. The scheme has been with the council since 2022 and will be considered by the Strategic Planning Committee because it involves more than 100 homes and the officer recommendation differs from the town council's position.
What councillors are being asked to decide
Application SL/2022/0490 is an outline application with all matters reserved. The committee is being asked to decide the principle of building housing at this location and scale, rather than the final layout, appearance, landscaping, access or detailed design.
Most of the site is already allocated for housing through the Kendal Parks allocation in the South Lakeland Land Allocations plan, although the proposal extends slightly beyond the allocation boundary. The indicative main access would be from Oxenholme Road, with an emergency access from Hayclose Crescent and possible links to Hawthorn Way and Kendal Parks Road.
The proposal would provide 35% affordable housing. At the maximum of 160 homes, that could mean up to 56 affordable properties, although the mix and tenure would be settled at the later reserved-matters stage. The scheme would have a density of just over 21 homes per hectare, rising to about 29 per hectare when roads, drainage and open space are excluded.
Transport, healthcare and education payments
Officers recommend approval subject to a section 106 agreement. The proposed financial contributions include £96,000 for transport improvements and pedestrian crossing facilities at the A65 Burton Road, Oxenholme Road and Heron Hill junction, plus £160,000 for cycle improvements between Oxenholme station and Kendal town centre.
Together, those contributions total £256,000. A requested £80,341 payment towards extending the James Cochrane Practice at Helme Chase surgery is not included in the section 106 agreement. The NHS calculated that the development could create about 384 new patients, based on 160 homes and an average household size of 2.4 people. The integrated care board instead said it would pursue the funding through the former South Lakeland community infrastructure levy policy.
No education contribution is being sought. The council expects the development to generate 32 primary pupils and 23 secondary pupils. It says there is capacity at Heron Hill and St Mark's primary schools, while Queen Katherine Academy can accommodate secondary pupils within the three-mile threshold because there are no places at Kirkbie Kendal, the catchment secondary school.
Why the scheme is opposed
Sport England continues to object because the driving range would be lost. It says there has been no robust, up-to-date assessment showing that the facility is surplus and no replacement has been offered. Its calculation puts the new population's demand for built sports facilities at £143,637.
Officers nevertheless recommend approval, saying Sport England was consulted as a courtesy rather than as a statutory requirement. They also say a driving range is not classed as a playing field under the relevant 2015 development management order, the allocated-land development brief already anticipated a second vehicle access through the driving range, and alternative provision is available at Carus Green after substantial investment.
A previous flood authority objection has been withdrawn after updated surface-water mapping showed lower risk across the site. Conditions are proposed covering ground investigation, drainage design and opening up a culverted watercourse.
The application predates mandatory biodiversity net gain rules, but the applicant's submitted calculations show a gain of 2.98 habitat units, or 18.22%. Officers describe this as a significant on-site gain and want it secured through a 30-year management plan.
Kendal Town Council recommended refusal in June 2022 and again in November 2023. Its concerns included a proposed mini-roundabout on a blind bend at the Oxenholme Road entrance, pressure on schools, doctors and dentists, parking problems on Hayclose Road and Howe Bank, flooding, and the loss of a green corridor. It also called for fewer homes, more green space, a play area and standard electric-vehicle charging.
Neighbour objections have focused on traffic, parking, construction vehicles using existing northern estates, drainage and sewer capacity, the loss of grazing land and the fear that Kendal and Oxenholme could merge. One representation asked for 160 swift nest bricks, one for each home.
Meeting details and what happens next
The Strategic Planning Committee meeting starts at 10am in the District Council Chamber at Kendal Town Hall on Thursday 17 September. Anyone wishing to speak must apply by 0:01am three working days before the meeting and provide a written summary to the officer named on the front of the agenda.
The committee could approve the application subject to completion of the legal agreement, refuse it against the officer recommendation or defer the decision. Even if permission is granted, detailed decisions about the layout, access and housing mix would come later. The report notes that the council cannot currently demonstrate a five-year housing supply, while officers say many of the detailed concerns raised by residents concern reserved matters rather than the principle before the committee.
